BISHOP BARNES OF BIRMINGHAM.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19140, 25 October 1927, Page 12

BISHOP BARNES OF BIRMINGHAM.

TO TH*. BDITOB 0? TH« PRESS. Sir, —A statement made by the Eev. Charles Perry in his article published in The Press to-day needs correction. Mr Perry states that the Bishop O) Birmingham "has flouted the ordinary feeling for the most popular Saint Francis of Assisi, by emphasing his bodily uncleanness —which might be done of many great people of the Middle Ages—and neglecting his holiness." That statement is erroneous, and may give a totally wrong impression to some of your readers. The following quotations from Dr. Barnes's sermon,preached at St. Martin's, Birmingham, on'the occasion of the 700 th anniversary of the death of St. Francis,. show clearly that Dr. Barnes did not "neglect the holiness of St. Francis." "Francis was born in 1182. lie was converted in early manhood. He died at the early age of forty-four. Long life is seldom given to those in whom' the spirit beats strongly against the bars of the flesh. He was a man of extraordinary personal magnetism,', sincere, humorous, lovable, without guile. By his transparent honesty lie impressed men. He won them by his sheer goodness. His personality created a gious movement which was of. great value to Europe. He is often compared with Christ, and undoubtedly there was much in the nobility of his character which was Christlike. I have spoken frankly to-day of St. Francis and the great men of his Order. Does the blunt truth not inspire us? I summarise its teaching, Try to niake goodness supreme with the. simple sincerity of the Saint of Assisi. Show, as he showed, love ..to God and your fel-low-men. Enjoy the gifts of God—the beauty of Nature and animal life—with St. Francis' simplicity. And, moreover, seek truth with the courage of the great thinkers, who w.ere bred by the Order which Francis founded. Then you will make your life a centre from which spreads the Spirit of Christ." The Bishop's own words disprove the suggestion that he talks profanely and blasphemously of Saints. It may be true, as Mr Perry«states, that the Bishop in some of his utterances has spoken provocatively. But, unhappily, his opponents in England have been more than provocative. The general public in New Zealand who read the cables about Dr. Barnes probably do not know of the active propaganda of mean and deliberately malicious detraction directed against the Bishop in England. The general attitude of his opponents in England may be judged by the attitude which they adopted in the particular case of the Bishop's sermon on St. Francis. Through certain journals in England they grievously misrepresented the Bishop's utterance, and gravely misled their readers who had not heard the sermon. Mr Perry knows that in offering a correction of his article I am actuated by no personal animus—it doesn't exist^Yours,^^^^ October 22nd.